Saturday, August 25, 2012

The reader is urged to make his own conclusions after reading this
article. Everyone is independent in making their own choices for their
own lives. Take what helps you from this article and use it to keep
yourself healthy. If something you read here does not apply to your life
or your current situation, then pass that information on to others whom
it might help.

Choosing
independence instead of depending on a nursing home or physical
rehabilitation and care center can be the difference between life and
death for you.

If this sounds unbelievable to you, do some research on the net and see what info is available to you about nursing homes.

Most
of the stories that you hear about nursing homes are true. Society
sometimes paints a picture of nursing homes or assisted living homes
being the epitome of freedom and independence for senior citizens. But
in reality, some of them are more like prisons than they are like
hotels. If you are sitting in your own living room reading this and if
you are dreaming that when you get older you will retire to a nursing
home, think it over. Think again, and please reconsider your retirement
plans. Depending on where you are located, depending on the individual
place that you choose, your future life could resemble the life of an
inmate, only you will have willingly given away your freedom by choice.
You could sit there and think that I am exaggerating or you can keep an
open mind and hear me out. Listen to what you might have to live with if
you choose to live the rest of your days in a nursing home.

You might have to:

Spend hours each day sitting in an uncomfortable wheelchair even if you do not need a wheelchair.

Spend hours each day waiting to be accompanied to the bathroom or wheeled to the bathroom.

Spend hours each day in a dining room that smells like it really needs to be cleaned.

Spend hours each day trying to figure out where your own clothing is.

Spend hours each day begging staff to bring clothing to your room so that you can leave your room.

Miss your rehabilitation therapy because the staff lost your
clothing and you are not allowed out of the room without your clothing.

Spend days and even weeks waiting for a phone call because you
have no phone in your own room and no staff will pick up the pay phone
when it rings.

Eat what they bring you even though you did not order that food.
And beg them to change your menu even though you have put your changes
in writing and they have made the changes in writing but they still
bring the wrong food to you.

Beg and plead and cry for the staff to bring you to your room
and wait for hours and hours to get help because they are short-staffed,
especially on weekends.

Wear other people's clothing because they have lost your own
clothing. You will wear clothing that does not fit you. And you will
wear clothing that is stained all because you have lost so much of your
freedom while living in that nursing home.

Be extra careful and extra vigilant when they are giving you
your medication because sometimes they give the wrong medication to the
wrong patients. (I saw in one instance where they were giving the wrong
medication to a resident and thank God the resident noticed the mistake
and stopped them. What if this resident had been mentally-disabled and
didn't notice the difference? That patient would have been wrongly
medicated and would have perhaps died.

Lose your freedom of choice in so many areas of your life.

Be exposed to seriously mentally-ill individuals that are bunked on the same floor that you are bunked on.

Be at risk of being attacked by patients who wander the halls
because they are physically-fit to do so but not mentally-fit to do so.
This list is only the tip of the iceberg. I have not listed everything.
You need to decide for yourself if you will remain independent or not.

Does all that sound horrible to you? Does all that sound
unbelievable to you? Yes, it might sound that way. But reality is that
all of these things can and will and did happen to residents in one or
two nursing homes and rehabilitation and care centers right here in the
United States of America. Just recently there was a news item that one
resident died of bedsores and of maggots in his eyes. How in the world
can a nursing home not notice a man develop maggots? The reality of this
is that maggots would not first appear in a human's eyes but would
first appear somewhere else on the body. The eyes are one of the last
places that the maggots would appear. We know this just from knowing
what happens to animals when they get fleas or other insects in their
bodies. If you have a kitten or cat, and that animal develops fleas, the
first fleas will appear on the body or tail. Once the animal gets
infested with fleas, then the fleas will disperse to other parts of the
body like the eyes and ears of the animal . Same thing with humans. Most
likely those maggots first appeared on the human's torso or other body
part long before the maggots progressed onto the man's eyes. Yet, this
happened in a nursing home in the United States, not in a foreign
country, but right here in the United States. After hearing this are you
still thinking of living in a nursing home for your senior years?

Do this for yourself. Use a major search engine and put in the words nursing home, put
yourself on alert so that you receive any and all news regarding
nursing homes in America (or in foreign countries where you live). In
less than one week, you will receive hundreds if not thousands of alert
news bulletins that will bring you all the news that is related to any
and all nursing homes in America or in your country. Most of that news
will be bad news. Most of that news will tell you of all the horrible
things that are happening to residents of nursing homes today. Try this
and you will prove to yourself that every word that I typed here is the
absolute truth. Do yourself a favor and do whatever you can do to stay
in your own home and in your own apartment independent so that you never
have to wind up inside a nursing home by yourself.

Near the
bottom of this article there is a link for a page that tells you the
truth about nursing homes and rehabilitation care centers in America.
Check out that page if you ever consider living inside a nursing home.
Check out that page if you ever are in need of services of a
rehabilitation and care center as most of these therapy places are
located inside of these nursing homes. Once you admit yourself to a
rehabilitation and care center you are opening up yourself to the
possibility of living in that nursing home for the rest of your life. I
have actually witnessed someone go from mildly inactive (due to a
surgery) to almost vegetative state due to the lack of care and
negligence and malpractice inside of a rehabilitation center that was
housed inside of a nursing home. Once the person was in the rehab
center, they transferred him upstairs to the nursing home, in error and
once he was upstairs the degree of care went from some to none. The
center thought this person had no family so they proceeded to treat him
like they treat many who have no visitors come there. And then one day
when the visitor was able to finally visit, they found this patient
laying in bed with nothing on but a diaper and t-shirt. The patient was
not allowed out of the room without clothing and there was no clothing
inside his room even though his family had brought over seven shirts and
six pairs of pants, and underwear and t-shirts that were brand new. All
of this man's clothing was lost and he was basically a prisoner in his
room, in his bed due to that lack of care, lack of organization and due
to the loss of all (not some) of his own clothing. Finally, when family
mentioned the situation to staff, they scurried around to find someone
else's clothing for him (because they could not find his own clothing).
So that is what happened on weekends when the staff thought no one was
visiting. Another weekend, family came upstairs and they were horrified
at the odor on the floor that the family member was staying on. They got
off the elevator and smelled this horrible smell throughout the entire
floor and the staff didn't even seem to notice the odor. Was the odor
from patients who were forced to sit in wet clothing and in wet diapers
for hours at a time? What was the odor from? Even the dining room
smelled of this foul odor. One family member of a different resident
actually brought their own odor-repellent because they were almost
vomiting from the odor on the floor. This is what some nursing homes are
like.

Why isn't this on the front page of the news? It is not on
the news because the nursing homes and rehab centers prepare the place
and put it into better condition when they believe they will have the
most visitors. In other words, during holidays or during the most
heavily-trafficked visiting hours, the facility puts on more staff and
assigns more staff to those areas where the visitors will be. By doing
this, the nursing home and rehab centers can present a place that
appears decent. Then once all the visitors are gone, the staff
mysteriously disappears to somewhere else and hte conditions in the
nursing home go back to the horrible conditions that existed before the
visitors came. That day when the place smelled horrible, ti was very
early--before the majority of the visitors came to visit. The place
would smell like that horribly for hours, and then before the larger
number of visitors were to visit, the staff would then get busy changing
the residents diapers or getting the odors out of the rooms so that
when the visitors came to visit they would see that -supposedly-- that
residents were being cared for. No one would know the truth unless they
had been there one or two or three hours earlier. (For example, if they
expect the most visitors late afternoon on a Saturday, that means all
Saturday morning, residents could go without their diapers being changed
and no one would know and no one would care. That probably is what
caused the horrible odor throughout the hallways that day. (A
combination of diapers' odor and unclean floors and unclean laundry
laying around in the hallways probably was the cause of the disgusting
odor in the hallways). Why didn't the residents complain? They probably
did. The ones that are able to be verbal do tell their family members
what the place is like but when the family finally comes to visit, the
family sees that the place looks nice and they think the seniors are
making up stories. Another reason why this is not front page news is
because usually when these places are having their inspections they are
warned ahead of time and they have a chance to clean the place up. There
is a vicious cycle going on in many of these bad nursing homes and no
family members are aware of what is happening to their relatives. Do not
kid yourself and do not be a Pollyanna when it comes to the subject of
nursing homes and rehabilitation and care centers. These conditions
exist and they exist today!

I urge you, that if your family member
is complaining of horrible or bad conditions inside of a nursing home,
please believe what they are saying to you, because most likely they are
telling you the one hurndred-percent truth. You need to believe the
residents if anyone is going to get to the bottom of the disgusting
conditions that are happening inside of some nursing homes today. Now
they have people trying to hide this condition and trying to tell people
that the horror stories are not true or that they are exaggerated. When
you hear this and when they tell you that , remember these words, it
is really happening in some nursing homes and inside of some rehab and
care centers, right here, right in the United States of America. It is
happening right under our noses and not many are paying attention to it
because they are not believing this could possibly be happening. You are
reading the words that are telling you the truth. Some nursing homes
and some rehab and care centers in America are treating residents and
patients horribly and they are getting away with it because they can get
away with it. I beg you to believe your family members when they
complain to you about conditions inside of these centers.

The reasons why people end up in nursing homes:

They cannot be left alone in their own homes or apartments because they have started fires with the stove or oven.

They do not know when to take their medication or they forget to take it.

They have flooded apartments because they forget to turn the water off.

They let strangers into their homes and that puts them in danger.

They wander off into the streets and their family has found them and put them in nursing homes.

They have Alzheimer's or some other disease that makes it impossible for them to remain independent.

They got an injury (i.e. broken hip) and they could not afford to stay in their own homes safely.

Those are some of the major reasons why older people or
disabled people end up in nursing homes. (There are more reasons but
those are some of the most prevalent reasons). Knowing these reasons and
knowing the solutions to these problems can keep you or your family
members independent and out of the vicious cycle and circle of nursing
homes and physical rehabilitation and care centers. So, you are asking, what are the solutions to these above-listed problems?

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO REMAIN INDEPENDENT AND OUT OF NURSING HOMES AND REHABILITATION AND CARE CENTERS:

FIRES:

Using microwave ovens (that have automatic timers) is one solution
for the family member who leaves the stove or oven on. They can cook by
microwave and thus be safe from oven or stove fires. What if your family
member insists on using the stove or oven after they have already
caused a fire? Close the gas off. Have the gas company come and close
the gas off completely. When the gas company does this it is done in a
safe way. (Use electric heat and hot water and keep the gas off). If you
do not want to close the gas off, divide the house and keep the oven,
stove and gas-operated appliances out of the rooms that the senior
member has access to.

MEDICATION:

Purchase timers or alarm watches to remind the person to take the
medication. Keep a list on the refrigerator and a list near the
television set with reminders of when to take the medication. Some
seniors and disabled people are permitted to have home care or visiting
nurse services visit and this will help solve that problem. You can have
different members of the family telephone the person and remind them by
phone to take the medication. You can set up other reminders also, for
example, you can tell the family member to take their medication when a
certain tv show comes on. (Time it to when the person needs the
medication. Check local tv service to be sure that the timing is
correct. Remember that stations change their shows and change their
listings frequently so use this only as a last-resort method of
reminders. You can have a neighbor visit to remind the person if that is
available to you.

FLOODS:

Floods are real problems in apartments where the seniors or disabled
people live. The solution to this is reminders. If you know that your
family member leaves the water running, you can do a few things to stop
floods. First, always keep a large supply of towels and buckets around
so that just in case there is a flood, there are proper clean up tools
around. Second, if it is physically possible, see if you can safely
limit the water pressure inside of the apartment. So this way when the
faucet is turned on, the water will not come out like the pressure of a
fire hydrant but will come out in a less forceful manner. Third, post
signs on the front door, and on all the bathroom doors, signs that state
did you shut the water off? You can make them funny signs with
little cartoons. That will add a little humor and it won't seem like you
are telling them what to do but it will just be a gentle reminder. If
you have a neighbor who will check in or family member , of course that
really helps things along. You can telephone the person a few times a
day and then remind them to check the water before they go out of the
house or before they go to bed. If you use all these methods, you
probably can avoid any floods.

STRANGERS:

This should be easy enough to handle. Most seniors who let strangers
into the home are those who have hardly any contact with family or
friends. See if the person wants to get involved with the local senior
center. This will give them connections. Have visitors come frequently.
Install a peephole on the doorway or an intercom system and instruct
them to protect themselves and not let strangers into the home. Take the
name off all the sales lists so that visiting salesmen will not knock
on the door. Have an unlisted number. Most times salespeople find
residents by their listed phone numbers. So take the name and address
and phone off all the lists that you can take them off of. And keep them
connected with other family members and other friends. (Most seniors
who are scammed are scammed because they are found to be alone. When
there are repairs to be done or when legitimate service people or
delivery people are to visit, have a family member or two or three of
them be there at the house. This way strangers do not know that anyone
lives there alone. Word spreads fast, and almost always entire
neighborhoods know when a senior or disabled person is living at home
alone. Once the word spreads, that sole person becomes a target of
unscrupulous unwanted strangers or salespeople. If you think this is not
true, listen to your news stations and find out what is happening in
the world.

WANDERING:

How do you stop wandering? It is hard but not impossible. First, let
the person know that they should always have proper identification on
them. And they should always carry their keys with them even if they are
staying at home. Many seniors get locked out and then if they have
Alzheimer's or if they are forgetful they will wander. All of this can
be avoided. Keeping keys handy, having a neighbor on alert, little
things like this helps almost everyone. Having a busy schedule helps
stop wandering. When family members know that someone is to visit soon,
they will be at home waiting for them. Having nice neighbors too, helps.
Do everything you can do to stay and be connected with people (people
you know - not strangers). Sometimes it helps to use memory-improving
tactics --and using these also helps stop wandering. Urge family members
to use calendars, timers and to use the newspapers to keep connected
and to keep up to date on what is really happening in their lives. The
first slipping into wandering is when a person goes for days or weeks
and does not know what day it is. These things can be helped if caught
in time. Urge the person who is living alone to look at their calendars
every day and mark off the day that it is at the end of the day. This
keeps a person connected to reality. Urge them to use alarm clocks even
if they can wake up naturally. Anything that helps routine - helps them.
Most people have large families. Have family members visit (invited of
course. Call the person and say you are coming over; Ask if that is
okay). Solve some of the wandering problems by having help with
shopping. Have meals-on-wheels deliver some meals. Call for take-out
foods. There are many ways to keep from wandering. Have a gps device if
you travel by car. The main and most important thing to do if you or
your family member wanders is to ensure that they always have proper
identification on them, along with emergency contact telephone numbers.
You can give them a Trac phone or a life-alert button . All these are
good solutions and good ways to stay at home and not wind up in a
nursing home or rehab center.

DISEASE and TERMINAL ILLNESS:

Though this is hard it is not impossible. There are still ways to
help family members or to help yourself stay independent and stay living
in your own apartment or home. Remember that most times, staying in
your own place will prolong your life and keep you healthier than if you
are going to give in to live in a nursing home. You can help stay
independent by having home care at your own home. If you cannot afford
home care, try and hire private help. Most people think this is
expensive. But trust me, this probably will be less expensive than if
you go to a nursing home or rehab center. Your life is worth more than
all the money you have so do not hesitate to hire help if hiring help
will keep you independent in your own home and apartment. Try your best
to stay living in your own place and do that by hiring help or by
getting home care (even if you need 24/7 home care, that will be better
than living in a nursing home). In the nursing home, if you wind up in a
bad one, you will be a virtual prisoner and your life might be in
danger. (Note, we said if you wind up in a bad one. But the problem is
that you might not know it is a bad one until you are actually living
there. Only the persons living there know what the real conditions are
like inside the walls of many nursing homes). Use all the rest of the
helps mentioned when you have illness, helps like alarm clocks and
reminder timers, calendars and the connections between family and
friends. If you have terminal illness, you are better off contacting
hospice than you are contacting a nursing home. Most hospices have
better reputations than nursing homes do. Take your chances with hospice
before taking the chance with a nursing home. Most times hospice is
free. (And if it is not free, it is probably covered by your insurance
company). For food and other deliveries, use your same delivery people,
do not try newer stores or companies that ring your bell or come to you
unsolicited. Always think safety first. Check out your options of
meals-on-wheels. You can find this charity through the local Catholic
Charities office or through your local synagogues.

INJURIES:

Falls and injuries are some of the main reasons that some wind up in
nursing homes and in rehabilitation and care centers. So, avoid falls
and spills. You can do this by going slow. For Heaven's sake, slow down.
Know that in this time in your life there is never a reason to rush so
much that you break a leg or other limb. Slow down! You can save your
life by slowing down. It is common knowledge that once a person reaches a
certain age, the most common cause of death happens due to a fall. When
seniors or disabled individuals fall it is more serious than when a
fully-abled person or younger person falls. You will have more
complications and less chances of survival. You will need to survive the
medical system. That means once you enter the hospital you run the risk
of serious infection even if you are there for just a fall. It is
public knowledge that thousands die each and every year from hospital
infections. So once you go into the hospital you are at risk. And if you
go in there older or handicapped, your risk is more than the average
person. So, slow down. Prevent falls and prevent accidents. This is the
very best thing that you can do for yourself. Slow down. I cannot repeat
this enough. Most falls happen in or near the home and the majority of
falls happen because someone was rushing to do something. Other falls
are due to stroke. You can avoid that by watching your diet and your
lifestyle. Take good care of yourself and your body will take good care
of you. If you are smoking or drinking, save your life right now by
stopping those unhealthy habits.

Those are all possible solutions that are available to
you if it fits your lifestyle. Do only what you can do safely. You make
the decisions yourself if you want to be independent or if you want to
live inside a nursing home or rehabilitation and care center. The author
urges you to make intelligent choices for your life. The author of this
article is not a medical or legal professional but writes for
entertainment, information and resources only. The author urges you to
make your own decisions for your life. Regarding the suggestions or
advice in this article, use only what is safe and helpful to you
considering your own lifestyle and your own present living situation.
Brainstorm with your family and friends and come up with the best
solutions to your own problems. Remember that only you know what is best
for you. Read the book, THE GIFT OF FEAR by Gavin DeBecker. This is a book that urges you to believe in yourself and trust your own instincts.

Here is a link about nursing home conditions in our world,

I
hope that you make the safest and most correct decisions for your life
and for your future. If you remember nothing from this article at all,
kindly remember these four most important things:

Have faith in God, and believe in God. Trust your own instincts and read the suggested book listed above.

Pass this article on to as many people as you can pass it on to.
You just never know who might need to hear all of these words to help
them in their own lives.

I appreciate your comments, ideas, suggestions or
criticisms, and look forward to hearing from you today or in the near
future. Now you have learned how to protect yourself and your health. Do
everything that you can do to remain independent in your own home or in
your own apartment. Trust me you will not like spending your life
inside a nursing home or rehabilitation and care center.

Disclaimer:
I am not saying that no patient should ever go into a nursing home. My
message is clear that it is best for human beings to do whatever they
can legally, emotionally, and physically do to remain out of nursing
homes and physical rehabilitation centers if they can safely avoid doing
so. I am saying that if you can recover or live in your own home or
apartment, you are usually much better off doing that. Make your own
decisions for your life but make your decisions with information and
real facts.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

One of the most common complaints dieters have is the lack of
energy, zest or vitality they feel when on a diet. This is the most
classic symptom of a poor nutrition plan and it should be the red flag
warning you to halt whatever it is that you're doing.
In
reality, the best way to gauge the effectiveness of your weight loss
system is through the energy and motivation you feel while taking it on.
If you are not actively engaged, excited and active in your health and
fitness goals, you will never achieve weight loss success. This article
explains how weight loss and energy, when applied properly, are an
essential pairing in the pursuit of your goals.
Think of your body
as a battery that recharges every night when you go to sleep. Most
people require 6-8 hours of sleep every night to attain the absolute
best restorative benefits that sleep offer, but for a lot of us that
much time off is out of the question. Our busy lives have made it almost
impossible to give our bodies everything it needs in one way; the good
news, however, is that this problem is easily solved through the foods
you eat.
Most flash diets 'work' by isolating and/or eliminating
the elements of your meals; we see this most prominently in the low
carb, high protein diets that so many have tried and ultimately failed
with. These diet food plans inevitably come up short because they leave
us exhausted, depressed and therefore liable to return to the poor
habits that brought you to the diet in the first place. Further, they
deny the fundamental principle that energy and weight loss go hand in
hand.
The first indicator that anyone should have to know that
they are losing weight properly is not on the scale; rather, it is in
their liveliness and energy.
It is absolutely crucial to fill your
body with the right mix of complex carbohydrates, protein and fat. A
generally good guideline is to make your meals high in carbs (yes,
carbs), moderate in protein and low (but not depleted of) fat. Your
meals should fall within 100 calories of each other; that means no small
breakfasts, no evening feasts and absolutely no skipped meals, in fact
you should be eating 5 meals daily.
This is about sustaining a
consistent and efficient fat burning machine within your body, it's not
about fancy foods or miracle drinks; it's real, scientific, systematic
weight loss. And it lasts. Fuel your energy and the weight will stay
off.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

A lot of moms worry about being overweight after giving birth.
This is mainly because they have been eating much to provide their
babies with the right amounts of vitamins, minerals and essential
nutrients to grow up healthy and strong. Overweight moms can grab the
opportunity to lose the weight quickly, at the same time taking care of
their babies and even earning in the process. Here are the secrets of
Beach Body and how to start.The Beach Body Opportunity
Beach
Body is a company that focuses on health and fitness. The good news is
people finally have a means to earn passive income and lose the unwanted
fat and weight. They can gain access to the latest technologies and
techniques to reach their ideal physique, while earning a lot of money.
You can make the most out of your time and maternity leave by learning
the ropes, getting into your best shape and coaching others to do the
same. Moms have the advantage of reaching out to other moms just like
them and help them experience the benefits of working at home and
earning money without having to go to work.Weight Watchers Program
Beach
Body includes special programs that will help people get rid of the
unwanted weight and fat regardless of your current state and condition.
Once you join the network and register, you can have access to their
online site. You also get to run your own personalized website where you
can effectively display your products and get to meet several experts
in the industry. You will be provided with the right tools and training
to advertise effectively and sell to your target customers. You can also
update them with recent developments and work as a coach to also guide
them in building your downline, ultimately earning more in the process.More Benefits for Moms
The
company will provide you with incentives and cash benefits based on the
products you sell, plus the number of people joining your network. Moms
get a lot of start up advantages compared to joining other online
opportunities or running their own business from scratch. You will
receive training materials and programs so you can represent the
products and company well, as well as let people know more about your
expertise in fitness and health. You can get rid of the common expenses
that other people have to worry about, such as rent, electricity,
uniforms and transportation.Becoming a Coach
Weight
watchers and overweight moms can share their knowledge and experience
so they can teach healthy habits and lifestyle changes to other people
on the internet. You can get the best of both worlds by taking care of
your baby during the most critical months and continue to help earn
money for the entire family without having to leave your house. You will
only need little capital to start and a functional computer to get the
needed information to market and sell effectively. You also get to keep
your ideal shape for years to come even if you have more kids in the
future.